Charlie Crist hauls in close to $500K at Fort Lauderdale fundraiser

At his first fundraiser as a candidate for the Democratic nomination for governor, former Republican Gov. Charlie Crist took in about $500,000.

“The function raised somewhere in the vicinity of half a million dollars,” said former Florida Senate Minority Leader Steve Geller, D-Cooper City. Geller is a Crist pal, dating back to their days at Florida State University, and he’s a top adviser in his nascent campaign.

He said a precise amount for the event, Tuesday night at the Fort Lauderdale home of lawyer and Democratic fundraiser Mitchell Berger, is hard to tell because it actually was two separate functions, and some people didn’t bring checks but instead paid earlier in the day by credit card.

He said there were 75 to 100 people between the two events.

Geller described the enthusiasm as “incredibly high” with people who came with large checks waiting on a line for Crist to autograph campaign signs.

“You can tell by the amount that was raised it [enthusiasm] was high,” he said.

Many attendees came from the legal community. “The feeling I heard several times was if [Gov. Rick] Scott gets re-elected he will probably appoint four Supreme Court justices, which will be bad.”

Geller said “the overwhelming majority” of people were Democrats, though there “was certainly some Republican money there.”